New Research Debunks Job-Hopping Myth About Millennials and Gen Z
The National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) released a new study, Debunking the Job-Hopping Myth: A Data-Driven Look at Tenure and Turnover Among Younger Workers (Sept. 2025), challenging the belief that Millennials and Gen Z workers change jobs more often than previous generations.
“Despite evidence that younger workers today are behaving much the same as younger workers did in the past, the idea that ‘young people today change jobs more frequently and therefore want more flexible benefits’ is still often cited,” the report states (full report, p. 7).
Dan Doonan, NIRS executive director and co-author, said in the news release: “The myth of the job-hopping Millennial or Gen Z worker has had surprising resilience. Our analysis of government data finds that Millennials and Gen Z workers change jobs at about the same rates as Baby Boomers and Gen X workers did when they were younger. In fact, Millennials are more likely to stick with their jobs compared to previous generations.”
Research Director Tyler Bond added, “This research is important for policymakers and employers because it shows that younger workers do indeed value retirement benefits like pensions. The data clearly indicate that pensions remain relevant in today’s labor market and continue to be a powerful workforce retention tool.”
Why It Matters for TEXPERS:
The findings undercut a common policy argument against defined benefit (DB) pensions—that younger workers won’t stay long enough to vest. For Texas’ public employee retirement systems, this research reinforces that DB plans remain a critical tool to attract and retain talent. Quit rates and tenure trends are shaped more by economic cycles and the presence of strong benefits than by generational differences.
Key Details:
- Median job tenure for workers ages 25–34: 3 years for Baby Boomers in 1983 vs. 2.7 years for Millennials/Gen Z in 2024 (BLS tenure data) .
- Quit rates fall during recessions and rise in strong economies, showing turnover is cyclical—not generational (EBRI research).
- Public sector workers, where 86% have access to pensions, consistently exhibit lower quit rates than their private sector counterparts (Congressional Research Service).
Go Deeper:
Takeaway for Policymakers
Texas legislators often hear arguments that younger workers prefer portable, 401(k)-style benefits because they supposedly “job-hop.” NIRS’ research shows this is a misconception. Defined benefit pensions continue to align with actual workforce patterns and remain a proven retention tool in the public sector. Policymaking based on myths risks undermining retirement security for tens of thousands of public servants in Texas.
About the Author: Allen Jones is the director of communications and event marketing for TEXPERS. He joined the Association in 2017. Before TEXPERS, he worked in the news media industry, producing content for newspapers, magazines, and online publications and leading newsrooms as an editor and publications manager. [email protected]